*Friluftsliv; a handy word meaning open-air living, capturing the Scandinavian approach to living life in harmony in nature.

In the countryside near Løten, the gently rolling hills are dotted with the red painted barns that are so indicative of the Norwegian landscape.  Crops are sprouting in the fields and a herd of cows with their new calves are munching hay in a farmyard.  This is proper farming country, but I’m on my way to a day care centre for people with dementia.  As I photograph some milk churns at the end of the drive, a taxi full of elderly gentlemen pass me, also on their way to Lillehov, a farm that has provided day care services for over twenty years.  Ingunn Sigstad Moen meets me outside her house to welcome me in. It is a beautiful wooden farm building, full of fascinating old kitchen implements, but the group are already sitting around the table drinking coffee and talking about the day ahead, so I go to join them.  Lillehov doesn’t feel like a care facility, more like a warm friendly home, and that’s because it is. (more…)

*Friluftsliv; a handy word meaning open-air living, capturing the Scandinavian approach to living life in harmony in nature.

How do you imagine your life when you are older?  Perhaps you picture a retirement of travel and adventure, more time devoted to your family or pottering in your garden.  But beyond that, how do you picture your life when you get even older and functional abilities start to decline?  If we are lucky enough to get that far, we know that we may need help with everyday tasks  in the form of professional care.  When that happens to us, I think most of us would hope that we can continue to experience the things we love and that our days will still have meaning.  But if age or illness prevents us from having full agency over our lives, how can we be sure that will happen? (more…)